PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s volleyball head coach Heather Olmstead announced the release of the 2016 schedule Thursday.
The Cougars will begin the season by hosting the BYU Invitational from Aug. 26-27. Four teams, including the Cougars, will compete in the tournament: Cal Poly, Rice, Utah Valley and BYU. The Cougars beat Utah Valley last season and have never lost to the Wolverines. BYU hasn’t played Rice since 2012 or Cal Poly since 2010.
The Cougars follow that invite with another, the Sports Imports D.C. Koehl Classic, from Sept. 2-3. BYU will compete against Wyoming, LIU-Brooklyn and host Ohio State. The Buckeyes advanced to the regional semifinals of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The Cougars have never faced LIU-Brooklyn and are a dominating 68-5 all-time against former conference foe Wyoming.
BYU remains on the road the following week from Sept. 9-10 as it takes part in the Idaho State Invitational. The Cougars will first face off against Boise State on Friday before taking on Missouri and tournament host Idaho State the following day. Missouri also competed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, falling in the second round. BYU has never lost to Boise State in six matches and is 26-1 in its history against the Bengals.
The Cougars then return home for a trio of matches beginning on Thursday, Sept. 15, against Utah. On Sept. 16, BYU will face CSUN before challenging UNLV to finish out the week on Sept. 17. The Cougars have won the last five meetings against the Utes and have never lost to CSUN. BYU holds a 27-6 overall record against the Rebels.
BYU will look to defend its WCC title when it begins conference play the following week at home against Santa Clara and San Francisco on Sept. 22 and 24. Santa Clara also played in the NCAA tournament last year, falling to Michigan in the first round.
The Cougars will follow that up with a road trip for the next two league matches, playing Pepperdine on Sept. 27 and San Diego on Sept. 30. The Toreros advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament a year ago before being ousted by USC.
BYU then returns home for matches against Saint Mary’s and Pacific on Oct. 6 and 8, respectively. A trip to the northwest follows with matches at Portland on Oct. 13 and Gonzaga on Oct. 15.
The Cougars will next face Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount at home on Oct. 20 and 22, respectively, to complete the first round of conference play. The Lions advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament in 2015.
BYU will stay at home for one more match the following week on Oct. 28 against San Diego before hitting the road again for matches at Portland and Saint Mary’s on Nov. 3 and Nov. 5.
The Cougars will conclude the regular-season with home matches on Nov. 10 and Nov. 12 against Gonzaga and Portland, respectively.
Finally, BYU will end the regular season with a three-match road stand starting Nov. 17 at San Francisco, Nov. 19 at Santa Clara and Nov. 22 at Loyola Marymount to close out WCC competition.
For more information regarding individual matches, visit the 2016 women’s volleyball schedule page.